Between the Bells

Wall St closed slightly higher on Thursday following the release of key inflation data that came in line with consensus expectations of a slight month-on-month growth by 0.2% while the annual inflation rate rose to 3.2% from 3% in June. While this reading was a slight uptick in inflation, it was expected and the annual rate came in under expectations of 3.3%, indicating inflation in the region rem...

Wall St closed lower again on Wednesday as investors await key inflation data out of the US later this week to gauge an insight into whether inflation is cooling or remains sticky which will give a hint as to the next rate move out of the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones industrials index closed 0.54% lower, the S&P500 fell 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.17%. The US inflation reading for...

Wall Street reversed Monday’s rally to trade lower on Tuesday after credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the credit rating on several banks including M&T Bank and Pinnacle Financial citing deposit risk as the reason for the downgrades. Moody’s also placed Bank of NY Mellon and State Street on review for a downgrade. This caused investor fears of a further banking crisis to resurface thus sp...

The four day sell-off on Wall St came to an end on Monday as corporate earnings results boosted investor sentiment ahead of another big reporting season week and the release of key inflation data out later this week. The Dow Jones advanced 1.16%, it’s best day in almost 2-months. The S&P 500 added 0.9%, and the tech heavy Nasdaq ended Monday’s session up 0.61%, however was restricted by a 1% d...

Mixed jobs data sparked a sell-off on Wall St on Friday with the key indices closing lower for the session and the week. While the number of jobs added in the month of July fell short of expectations at 187,000, unemployment ticked lower to 3.5% and average hourly wages came in above expectations rising 0.4% for the month and 4.4% annually. The release of US CPI data will be a key event this week...

Reporting season kicked off this week with a small list of key names releasing results, while overseas was possibly the busiest results week in Europe and the US earnings season. Other key events driving markets were the Fitch Ratings downgrade on the US, China’s stimulus policy and Australia’s RBA rate pause. The Aussie share market fell 1.24% this week (Mon-Thu) as the local market took lead fro...

Wall St closed lower on Thursday amid increasing pressure from rising bond yields, which have been on the rise since the Fitch downgrade earlier this week. The S&P 500 fell for the third straight day, closing the session down 0.25%, while the Dow Jones shed 0.19% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed marginally lower, down 0.1%. US bond yields are trading at 4.18%, close to the highest levels since...

Fitch Ratings downgrading the US credit rating to AA+ from AAA sparked a panic sell off on Wall St overnight with the Dow Jones closing the day down almost 1%, while the S&P500 lost 1.38% and the tech heavy Nasdaq tumbled 2.17%. The Nasdaq has its worst day since February as the Fitch ratings cut on the long-term foreign currency issuer default rating on the U.S. citing “expected fiscal deteri...

US equities closed mixed on Tuesday as investors digested corporate earnings results against the release of key economic data. The S&P500 fell 0.27%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.43% but the Dow Jones reversed earlier losses to close up 0.2%. The key economic data released in the US again came in favourable showing signs of resilience in the US economy against cooling inflation to support...

Wall St ended a strong month with a rise in stocks on Monday ahead of a busy earnings week. The Dow Jones finished the trading day up 0.28%, the S&P 500 rose 0.15% and the tech heavy Nasdaq added 0.21%.  The S&P 500 had 5 months of consecutive growth for the first time since August 2021, finishing the month up 3.1%. The Dow made a 13-day advance during July, it’s longest streak of gains go...

Wall Street closed higher on Friday and notched out gains across the key indices for the week as investors welcomed favourable inflation data in the form of the personal consumption expenditures price index. The data is a key driver of the Fed’s interest rate decisions and gained just 0.2% month-on-month, the same reading as the prior month and well below the anticipated 4.2% rise. Stronger than e...

The release of economic data around the world was the key driver of market movements this week in addition to speculation around China’s support policy announcement and investors responding to earnings season results. The Aussie share market rose 1.94% this week (Mon-Thu) with every sector posting a modest gain led by the Communication Services sector jumping 3.46%, while energy added 3.42% and RE...

Wall St closed lower on Thursday following the Fed’s interest rate hike of 25-basis points, and US GDP data coming in at 2.4% growth for Q2 which beat economists’ expectations. The strength in US economic growth is in-line with the Fed’s expectations for inflation in the world’s largest economy to remain sticky for a little while to come. The Dow Jones snapped its longest rally since 1987 closing...

Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday with the Dow Jones closing higher for a 13th straight session, adding 0.23%, while the Nasdaq and S&P500 ended the session in the red, down 0.02% and 0.12% respectively. Investors digested the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a 25-basis point rate hike, taking the US cash rate to 5.25%-5.50%, the highest level in more than 22-years. Markets slipped in aft...

US equities closed higher on Tuesday with the Dow Jones posting a positive close for a 12th straight session, the longest winning streak in 6-years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P500 also closed higher as investors respond to the latest earnings results and await the key interest rate decision out of the Federal Reserve tomorrow. In Europe, markets also mostly rallied on Tuesday as investors in...

US equities had a positive run overnight, with all three major benchmarks closing the session in the green, as a busy week of earnings season begins and as investors await the Fed’s next policy decision. The Dow Jones pisted its 11th straight day of gains, advancing 0.52%. The S&P500 also gained as energy stocks led the index, with the sector up almost % after gas and oil futures approached a...

It was a mixed session in the US on Friday as investors digested the latest slew of earnings results and the Dow Jones extended its rally to 10 sessions, the longest for the key index since 2017. American Express shares slipped around 4% on Friday after the company reported second quarter revenue of US$15.05bn which fell short of analysts’ expectations at US$15.48bn.  Corporate earnings so far hav...

Incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making has been a growing interest for investors and companies. An ESG criteria evaluates a company’s sustainability and ethical impact and has had a notable impact on the share market by navigating investor preferences and capital allocation. In this week’s wrap, Grady covers: (0:10) The importance of ESG go...

US equities closed mixed in New York overnight. The Dow Jones gained more than 100 points or 0.47% to notch its first 9-day rally since 2017. A rally came after better-than-expected results from Johnson and Johnson. However, the broader market suffered after post-earnings declines in trader favourites Netflix and Tesla. The S&P500 slipped 0.7%, while the Nasdaq tumbled more than 2%.  What to w...

It was a positive run in New York overnight, with all three major benchmarks closing in the green, as the corporate earnings season continued. The Dow Jones registered its eighth straight day of gains, its longest winning streak since September 2019.  Goldman Sachs reported in the US, announcing a miss on profit and a beat on revenue, while Netflix, Tesla, IBM, and United Airlines reported after t...

US equities rallied on Tuesday with the Dow Jones closing higher for a 7th straight session, on the back of stronger-than-expected earnings results. Bank of America shares rose 4.2% after it reported earnings above expectations for the second quarter thanks to higher interest rates, while Morgan Stanley added 6.2% after a beat on both revenue and adjusted earnings per share. The Dow Jones closed u...

US equities closed higher on Monday as investor sentiment remains boosted by favourable inflation data released last week alongside some strong second quarter results released at the start of earnings season so far. The Dow Jones closed higher for a 6th straight session, adding 0.22% at the closing bell on Monday, while the S&P500 rose 0.39% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.93% boosted by App...

Wall Street closed mixed on Friday as earnings season kicked off in the US with a few big names posting better-than-expected results. This reporting period is particularly important in the eye of investors as to see how well US companies have performed during the high inflation, high interest rate environment. The Dow Jones rose 0.33%, while the S&P500 fell 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost...

The Australian share market staged an upswing this week, advancing 2.91% (Mon – Thurs). The ASX200 leader board was painted green, with information technology posting the strongest gains, followed by real estate and materials.  In this week's wrap, Grady covers:  (0:58) The REITs that are thriving vs. those that are struggling (3:38) One REIT that is trading at a discount in 2023 (4.46) Best...

European and US markets rallied overnight after US PPI data came in lighter than expected. This built on optimism after US CPI on Wednesday was also less than anticipated. The data supports signs that inflation is cooling, therefore boosted economic sentiment, and raising hopes of a less aggressive path ahead. However, markets are still expecting a 25-basis point rise by the Fed this month. It was...